Three Gorges project generates 800b kWh electricity

YICHANG - The Three Gorges Power Plant, the world's largest hydropower project, generated over 800 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity since its first turbine generator was put into operation in 2003.

According to an announcement from the China Three Gorges Corporation on Wednesday, the plant had generated 800.2 billion kWh of electricity as of Tuesday, equivalent to about 15 percent of the country's total power consumption in 2013.

Over the past 11 years, the electricity generated by the plant is equivalent to a reduction of nearly 400 million tons of coal, of about 800 million tons of carbon dioxide and of more than eight million tons of sulfur dioxide, the company said.

The Three Gorges project, launched in 1993 with a budget equivalent to $22.5 billion, consists of a dam and a five-tier ship dock, in addition to the 32 generators.

The dam's first generator went into operation in 2003. The last generator started operating in 2012, realizing a combined generating capacity of 22.5 million kw.

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